kraftworx?
What is kraftworx?
kraft is an artistic use of the Danish word for force or strength. It is the power in each of us that drives us to do more, be more and contribute more. It’s my take on the root of craftsmanship that describes a deep passion for the art of your skill.
worx is a lab, a studio or workspace where your vocation comes alive. It's the crossroads of preparation and innovation. It's an exciting place to be.
In Stephen Pressfield’s book, The War of Art, he asks us to consider:
What do you love enough to turn Pro? What are you so passionate about that you would put all of your time and focus on?... What ails us is living our lives as amateurs.
Amateurs experience the continuous pain of process without improvement. They tread the hamster wheel of “same thing, different day.”
The amateur plays part-time, the professional full-time. The amateur is a weekend warrior. The professional is there seven days a week.
kraftworx is where those who want to become Pros come to play. They’re all in, fully committed and show proper reverence for the quality of their contribution.
While mastery is innate in each of us, we often forget over time. The art is remembering what you can become. And kraftworx is a place to inspire you with the strength and force to rediscover it in yourself.
Call to Craftsmanship: What next step would you take to turn Pro?
-Craig www.kraftworx.com
Goals are for Losers
Just having a goal is the best way to ensure that you will lose. Even if you are obsessed with achieving it, a goal can be a grand distraction.
You will kid yourself that you have something meaningful to work towards. Ambition to accomplish the extraordinary won’t get you any more traction than a “vision board” papered with inspiring images (…it’s a dirty little “secret” that we love to believe, but isn’t true.)
It's the stuff of losers.
Ben Bergeron, coach to CrossFit world champions, calls it like this:
We’ve been told that high achievers are those who are out there enthusiastically setting goals….In reality, it’s the opposite. People tend to focus disproportionately on results, while neglecting the day-to-day things that will get them there.
Setting goals can be helpful. Clarity of direction is a good first step. The trouble is we often stop there. Most don’t implement the “next steps.”
For example, consider an annual sales quota: Here’s where my sales are today, and here’s where I need them to be on December 31st. A very clear target.
The challenge is even if I hit my quota on November 30th, a month early, I just spent eleven months as a loser. Everyday that I don’t hit my goal, I lose.
Scott Adams (How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big) observes that with goals you are always in a perpetual state of losing, if you ever win at all. He points out that you can win every day if you follow your system to hit your goal.
Ask this question to determine whether your goal is a pipedream: “What’s your daily process to achieve your goal?” Edwards Deming said,
“If you can’t describe what you do as a process, you don’t know what you are doing.”
So here’s the litmus test: Can you describe the daily system that tracks to your goal? If you can’t, you don’t have a system, you have an ambition (that you refer to as a goal).
Legendary NCAA football coach, Nick Saban, famously said, “It’s ‘the process’ that makes Alabama work.” His advice:
Don’t think about winning the SEC Championship. Don’t think about the national championship. Think about what you needed to do in this drill, on this play, in this moment. That’s the process: Let’s think about what we can do today, the task at hand.
His goal is not winning. It’s on the “process”. The system that has won his program a whole bucket full of National Titles.
Call to Craftsmanship: What systems are most critical to your goals?
-Craig www.kraftworx.com
Failure- Building Blocks or Stumbling Stones
Why does failure bother us so much?
We know that trial and error is part of the formula. Intellectually we accept trial, but not so much with error. Here’s where it gets personal (Ego) or professional (Craftsmanship):
- Ego perspective–when we fail we let the shame of being a “loser” shape our identity. And our ego hates that. Failure becomes a “judgment” against you, one that reinforces your fear of not being “good enough.” You are an imposter that just got busted.
- Craftsmanship perspective–failure is a building block to success. Just another detour on the trip to success. Frustrating, yes, but expected and manageable.
Your perspective will decide which trajectory you experience. Not from a simplistic Positive Mental Attitude approach, but from a core and visceral level of drive and motivation.
People who are committed to the relentless journey of improvement see something different when they fail. Consider Peter Sims’ (Little Bets) capture of how one of the most successful animation studios in the world “un-sucks”:
When Ed Catmull (President, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios) sums up Pixar’s creative process, he describes it as going from ‘suck to unsuck.’ Pixar film ideas begin on rough storyboards that suck until they work through thousands of problems throughout the process in order to take films from suck to unsuck…
Of course, just failing is not the key; the key is to be systematically learning from failures. To be closely monitoring what’s working and making good use of that information.
Nick Saban is Head Coach of the University of Alabama’s football team and one of the most successful coaches in NCAA football history. His advice:
“Don’t waste failure.”
His encouragement is to get technical about what you need to do to improve to prevent another failure. Always in the context of what you did, not the other person. Because that’s the only thing you can improve. That’s how you win because of failure.
I’ve had my own brilliant disasters. And I have been deeply challenged in how I would interpret them.
My Junior year in college I lost the general election for Student Body President. It was such a fantastic failure, especially when it’s so painfully public. The day before the election I greeted everyone with a smarmy thumbs up, the day after I tried not to make eye contact.
I learned a lot about intestinal fortitude from that loss. Though not as consciously as I wish I could have. (It’s strange, years later I can remember the votes it would have taken to change the outcome.)
I adopted a new mantra gleaned from that experience: “NTC” (Nothing To Chance). I used that blistering experience to steel my resolve to get a post-college job on Wall Street (as an English Major, no mean feat) and into Business School for an MBA.
Failure can become fuel for growth, (however painful) or a damning judgment that stops us in our tracks. And how we view it matters.
Josh Waitkins, (The Art of Learning) calls this process of learning from failure as “investment in loss.” This requires a beginner’s mind and is the ultimate in humility. Easier to do when there are no expectations of you, harder when others expect performance and production.
I learned this lesson the hard way coming off a successful stint as General Manager in a publicly traded company. Having proven a Midas touch, I was ready to start my own company.
The fact that I had no entrepreneurial, industry, or venture capital experience didn’t slow me down a bit. I literally bet the farm (our entire life savings) on my success. After eleven months, we never got a product to market or secured the funding we needed. It was a complete crash and burn.
While very painful, the experience etched new lessons into my psyche. My new steppingstones (learned from failing) when starting a business would be:
- Play to your strengths
- Stack the deck with winnable games
- Choose complimentary partners
- Let quality drive quantity
Choosing to “invest in loss” changed how I approached my next entrepreneurial opportunity. While my first was a complete “break down,” my second startup was a “break even,” and my third was finally a “break out” success.
“Pixar directors understand what seasoned entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos and agile software developers do: The faster they fail, the faster they will discover promising opportunities.” – Peter Sims
I make a conscious choice to have the humility to see failure for what it is: Building Blocks of success.
Call to Craftsmanship: What is keeping you from paving over your stumbling stones of failure?
-Craig www.kraftworx.com
Who cares about “Amazing Mornings”?
The most powerful part of my day is the first ninety minutes. It is the foundation for the critical parts of my day and my life. I experience the high-performance state of “Flow” first thing, and then try to recreate that feeling all day.
It starts with ending the previous day by going to bed at 8:30 p.m. Most people immediately say it’s impossible to go to bed that early. Here’s the “Suki Test” (my wife’s mantra every time someone says they can’t do something): “If I gave you $1,000, could you: be in bed tonight by 8.30?”
My guess is you could probably figure it out. At least for tonight, maybe several nights. I’m not saying that early morning is for everyone, all the time. (Just the vast majority, almost always.)
Research on this is clear:
- Sufficient sleep (at least seven and a half hours) is vital to health and well-being.
- Willpower is a finite energy that dwindles throughout the day, (like your phone battery) and running out of juice, (whether it’s your willpower or phone) can be ugly.
- Morning hours will be your most creative and productive.
- Routine is the easiest way to simplify habits.
Here’s my system for Amazing Mornings:
- Wake up at 4:30 a.m. Or eight hours after I went to bed. Eight hours is non-negotiable. (No alarm clock, just excited to get into Flow.)
- Put on my running clothes. Once they are on, I’m going. Regarding “commitment”:
- 99% is a (Should I go today? Is the weather good? Am I too tired? The list of potential excuses swarm in your head if there is even a 1% chance of getting out of it.)
- 100% is a no brainer. (You’ve already decided. Done. No annoying questioning or bargaining with yourself.)
- Positive psychology is rich in research on the power of being grateful and its effect on psychological well-being. Take time to focus on what you have to be grateful for this morning.
- Usually not far and never very fast. It isn’t just about the exercise, it’s also when I do a lot of new thinking by listening to audio books. The cocktail of running, reading, and thinking is intoxicating. I never have liked running, but I really enjoy the combination.
- I study scriptures, great writers, poets, and philosophers. (This centers me to a longer term perspective of ancient principles before jumping into the press of today.) I write in my “five-year reflection” journal to track and compare developments in my life.
- Meditation and planning. This is when I create the day before it actually happens. It never unfolds exactly as planned, but it keeps me in control of tradeoffs I choose to make.
And that’s how I start the day. By 6:00 a.m. I’m ready to pound out my first block of intensive writing, problem solving, and creating.
While there are many things I can’t control in a busy day, creating an Amazing Morning is one I can. It starts my day in a flow state of performance that naturally reinforces my drive for Craftsmanship.
Nothing magical. Just run-of-the-mill amazing. Sign me up. Every morning.
Call to Craftsmanship: How do you optimize your mornings?
-Craig www.kraftworx.com
Craig’s Craftsmanship Reads…
Anytime someone asks for a reading list, I pause.
Mostly because I’m not sure if it’s even helpful. Clearly a list doesn’t mean anything by itself. It’s when a book is distilled into insights that drive better outcomes that any book (on any list) actually means something.
So, below is a list. If you have thoughts on ways to organize them in a more helpful way, I’d welcome your ideas.
“Drink deep.”
By Title
| 1776 | David McCullough |
| A New Earth | Eckhart Tolle |
| A Theory of Human Motivation | Abraham H. Maslow |
| A Whole New Mind | Daniel H. PInk |
| Alexander Hamilton | Ron Chernow |
| All Things Shining | Kelly and Dreyfus |
| Awaken the Giant Within | Anthony Robbins |
| Buddhism for Beginners | Jack Kornfield |
| Buddhist Meditation for Beginners | Jack Kornfield |
| Building a Story Brand | Donald Miller |
| Checklist Manifesto | Atul Gawande |
| Competing Against Luck | Clayton Christensen |
| Crunch Time | Peterson and Hoekstra |
| Daring Greatly | Brene Brown |
| Death by Meeting | Patrick Lencioni |
| Deep Work | Cal Newport |
| Destiny of the Republic | Candice Millard |
| Do You! | Russell Simmons |
| Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff | Richard Carlson |
| Drive | Daniel H. Pink |
| Eat | Move |
| Ego Is the Enemy | Ryan Holiday |
| Essentialism | Greg McKeown |
| Extreme Ownership | Willink and Babin |
| Flourish | Martin Seligman |
| Flow | Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi |
| Give and Take | Adam Grant |
| Great Work | David Sturt |
| Grit | Angela Duckworth |
| Hero of an Empire | Candice Millard |
| How to Win Friends and Influence People | Dale Carnegie |
| Humble Inquiry | Edgar H. Schein |
| Influence | Robert Cialdini |
| Inner Game of Tennis | Tim Gallwey |
| Irresistible | Adam Alter |
| Leaders Eat Last | Simon Sinek |
| Little Bets | Peter Sims |
| Loving What Is | Bryon Katie |
| Make It Stick | Peter Brown |
| Manage Your Day-to-Day | Jocelyn Glei |
| Mastery | Robert Greene |
| Mastery: The Keys to Success | George Leonard |
| Mere Christianity | C.S. Lewis |
| Mindfulness | Ellen Langer |
| Mindset | Carol Dweck |
| Mindsight | Daniel Siegel |
| Multipliers | Liz Wiseman |
| Peace Is Every Step | Thich Nhat Hanh |
| Peak | Anders Ericsson |
| Playing to Win | Martin and Lafley |
| Power of Habit | Charles Duhigg |
| Presence | Amy Cuddy |
| Principles | Ray Dalio |
| Pursuing the Good Life | Christopher Peterson |
| Rapt | Winifred Gallagher |
| Resilience | Eric Greitens |
| Road to Character | David Brooks |
| Seat of the Soul | Gary Zukav |
| Smarter Faster Better | Charles Duhigg |
| So Good They Can’t Ignore You | Cal Newport |
| Start with Why | Simon Sinek |
| Stealing Fire | Steven Kotler |
| Talent Code | Daniel Coyle |
| Talent Is Overrated | Geoff Colvin |
| The 10X Rule | Grant Cardone |
| The 4 Disciplines of Execution | Covey/ McChesney |
| The 5 Choices | Merrill / Rinne / Kogan |
| The Art of Learning | Josh Watzkin |
| The Boys in the Boat | Daniel Brown |
| The Charisma Myth | Olivia Fox Cabane |
| The Culture Code | Daniel Coyle |
| The Daily Stoic | Holiday and Hanselman |
| The Defining Decade | Meg Jay |
| The Distracted Mind | Gazzely and Rosen |
| The Distraction Addiction | Alex Pang |
| The Effective Executive | Peter Drucker |
| The Five Dysfunctions of a Team | Patrick Lencioni |
| The Little Book of Talent | Daniel Coyle |
| The Obstacle Is the Way | Ryan Holiday |
| The ONE Thing | Gary Keller |
| The Outward Mindset | Arbinger Institute |
| The Power of Consistency | Weldon Long |
| The Power of Now | Eckhart Tolle |
| The Power of Vulnerability | Brene Brown |
| The Practicing Mind | Thomas Sterner |
| The Rise of Superman | Steven Kotler |
| The River of Doubt | Candice Millard |
| The Science of Being Great | Wallace Wattles |
| The Speed of Trust | Stephen M.R. Covey |
| The Talent Code | Daniel Coyle |
| The Untethered Soul | Michael Singer |
| The War of Art | Steven Pressfield |
| To Sell Is Human | Daniel H. Pink |
| Trap Tales | David M.R. Covey |
| Trying Not to Try | Edward Slingerland |
| Turning Pro | Steven Pressfield |
| Unlocking Potential | Michael Simpson |
| Walden | Henry David Thoreau |
| What Every Body Is Saying | Karlins and Navarro |
| What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear | Danielle Ofri, MD |
| Wright Brothers | David McCullough |
| You Already Know How to Be Great | Alan Fine |
| You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard | Bert Decker |
By Author
| Abraham H. Maslow | A Theory of Human Motivation |
| Adam Alter | Irresistible |
| Adam Grant | Give and Take |
| Alan Fine | You Already Know How to Be Great |
| Alex Pang | The Distraction Addiction |
| Amy Cuddy | Presence |
| Anders Ericsson | Peak |
| Angela Duckworth | Grit |
| Anthony Robbins | Awaken the Giant Within |
| Arbinger Institute | The Outward Mindset |
| Atul Gawande | Checklist Manifesto |
| Bert Decker | You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard |
| Brene Brown | Daring Greatly |
| Brene Brown | The Power of Vulnerability |
| Bryon Katie | Loving What Is |
| C.S. Lewis | Mere Christianity |
| Cal Newport | Deep Work |
| Cal Newport | So Good They Can’t Ignore You |
| Candice Millard | Destiny of the Republic |
| Candice Millard | Hero of an Empire |
| Candice Millard | The River of Doubt |
| Carol Dweck | Mindset |
| Charles Duhigg | Power of Habit |
| Charles Duhigg | Smarter Faster Better |
| Christopher Peterson | Pursuing the Good Life |
| Clayton Christensen | Competing Against Luck |
| Covey/ McChesney | The 4 Disciplines of Execution |
| Dale Carnegie | How to Win Friends and Influence People |
| Daniel Brown | The Boys in the Boat |
| Daniel Coyle | Talent Code |
| Daniel Coyle | The Culture Code |
| Daniel Coyle | The Little Book of Talent |
| Daniel Coyle | The Talent Code |
| Daniel H. PInk | A Whole New Mind |
| Daniel H. Pink | Drive |
| Daniel H. Pink | To Sell Is Human |
| Daniel Siegel | Mindsight |
| Danielle Ofri MD | What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear |
| David Brooks | The Road to Character |
| David M.R. Covey | Trap Tales |
| David McCullough | 1776 |
| David McCullough | Wright Brothers |
| David Sturt | Great Work |
| Donald Miller | Building a Story Brand |
| Eckhart Tolle | A New Earth |
| Eckhart Tolle | The Power of Now |
| Edgar H. Schein | Humble Inquiry |
| Edward Slingerland | Trying Not to Try |
| Ellen Langer | Mindfulness |
| Eric Greitens | Resilience |
| Gary Keller | The ONE Thing |
| Gary Zukav | Seat of the Soul |
| Gazzely and Rosen | The Distracted Mind |
| Geoff Colvin | Talent Is Overrated |
| George Leonard | Mastery: The Keys to Success |
| Grant Cardone | The 10X Rule |
| Greg McKeown | Essentialism |
| Henry David Thoreau | Walden |
| Holiday and Hanselman | The Daily Stoic |
| Jack Kornfield | Buddhist Meditation for Beginners |
| Jack Kornfield | Buddhism for Beginners |
| Jocelyn Glei | Manage Your Day-to-Day |
| Josh Watzkin | The Art of Learning |
| Karlins and Navarro | What Every Body Is Saying |
| Kelly and Dreyfus | All Things Shining |
| Liz Wiseman | Multipliers |
| Martin and Lafley | Playing to Win |
| Martin Seligman | Flourish |
| Meg Jay | The Defining Decade |
| Merrill / Rinne / Kogan | The 5 Choices |
| Michael Simpson | Unlocking Potential |
| Michael Singer | The Untethered Soul |
| Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi | Flow |
| Move | Eat |
| Olivia Fox Cabane | The Charisma Myth |
| Patrick Lencioni | Death by Meeting |
| Patrick Lencioni | The Five Dysfunctions of a Team |
| Peter Brown | Make It Stick |
| Peter Drucker | The Effective Executive |
| Peter Sims | Little Bets |
| Peterson and Hoekstra | Crunch Time |
| Ray Dalio | Principles |
| Richard Carlson | Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff |
| Robert Cialdini | Influence |
| Robert Greene | Mastery |
| Ron Chernow | Alexander Hamilton |
| Russell Simmons | Do You! |
| Ryan Holiday | Ego Is the Enemy |
| Ryan Holiday | The Obstacle Is the Way |
| Simon Sinek | Leaders Eat Last |
| Simon Sinek | Start with Why |
| Stephen M.R. Covey | The Speed of Trust |
| Steven Kotler | Stealing Fire |
| Steven Kotler | The Rise of Superman |
| Steven Pressfield | The War of Art |
| Steven Pressfield | Turning Pro |
| Thich Nhat Hanh | Peace Is Every Step |
| Thomas Sterner | The Practicing Mind |
| Tim Gallwey | Inner Game of Tennis |
| Wallace Wattles | The Science of Being Great |
| Weldon Long | The Power of Consistency |
| Willink and Babin | Extreme Ownership |
| Winifred Gallagher | Rapt |
-Craig Christensen www.kraftworx.com
My Call to Sobriety
Early in 2017 I felt a void.
I helped create the “Sales Performance Practice” to become one of the world’s largest sales transformation organizations. After sixteen years of building, selling, consulting and coaching I was the Global Practice Leader.
Yet, something was missing in my client interactions.
I said the right things at the right times, I made reasonable recommendations in engagements and we saw award-winning growth and success in our business. From the outside, it looked perfect.
Then came the realization that it wasn’t the business, it was my own expertise that was lacking. I had an odd awareness that my professional opinions weren’t really mine.
Upon reflection, I had a collection of what other people thought deeply about. Much of what I said parroted popular themes. I became expert at rehearsing narrow passages from sales and transformation books. I quoted other thought leaders, but didn’t have “thought leadership” of my own.
Relating what other people think isn’t a bad thing: It’s just that I actually thought they were mine. While I had worked hard to build a business, I hadn’t taken time to build expertise:
- I had learned what works, but I didn’t know why.
- I knew what to do, but couldn’t explain the science behind it.
- I intellectually understood concepts, but didn’t believe them enough to act on them.
While bestselling books lined my shelf, I didn’t read more than one or two a year. (Did I mention that I was busy?) I found it difficult to read without falling asleep. I just accepted that reading wasn’t a strength of mine. Not proud of that, I’m just owning the truth.
Now I was driven to gain the depth of understanding that would enable me to see the connections that experts see. I wanted to know for myself. I wanted conscious competence.
Over the next few months I started making changes. I left my job, switched careers and decided to focus all of my time exploring what creates mastery in any profession.
I started on a “reading bender” that hasn’t stopped.
Patterns and connections in the science of elite performance are beginning to appear. The concept of “craftsmanship” emerged as my own personal quest. I’m obsessed with understanding a “grand unifying theory” of the journey to achieve mastery – mastery of anything.
I’ve never appreciated Alexander Pope’s “An Essay on Criticism” (1711) until now. The “Pierian Spring” he refers to was the sacred source of the knowledge of art and science to the Muses in Greek mythology.
“A little learning is a dangerous thing.
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring;
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
and drinking largely sobers us again.”
In today’s world “shallow draughts” of a “little learning” will convince you that you are current, hip and up-to-date.
It is “drinking largely” that woke me up to the truth of what’s really available. It is giving me a better understanding of the galactic failures and inspiring successes of heroic masters, the art and science of improvement and the power of the human spirit.
Being awake enables me to realize my unique purpose in life. And being sober is a good way to start.
Call to Craftsmanship: What has enabled you to develop your own expertise? What “wake up” calls have you had?
-Craig www.kraftworx.com
Just Because You Don’t See It…
“Craftsmanship” may strike you as dated. We typically apply it to antique furniture and medieval cathedrals. However, when we think about “peak performance,” we envision Olympic athletes and astronauts. Individuals at the peak of achievement.
Craftsmanship is the process which allows them to strive for their best: An effort fueled by the drive for excellence. A contemporary craftswoman or craftsman is constantly forging their skills in the techniques that drive elite performance.
It’s worth noting that “technique” matters. A lot.
There is a really good chance that many of us are kidding ourselves about our true level of performance.
Dan Coyle (Talent Code) would say that, top athletes don’t practice for the big game, practice is the big game. This perpetual state of improving their technique enables them to perform. On demand and at will.
Why should we care so much about craftsmanship? According to research, there is a really good chance that many of us are kidding ourselves about our true level of performance. (And making this even more difficult is that we likely don’t even see it.)
Over two millennia ago, the Stoic philosopher, Epictetus advised:
"Throw out your conceited opinions, for it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.”
(If you engage with teenagers, then you know what he’s talking about.) This is easy to see in others, harder to see in ourselves.
The obstacle to craftsmanship starts with “I'm good, I don’t need help.” This progresses to a detached cynicism resulting in “I’m fine, don’t bother me.” Repeated over a career.
Anders Ericsson (Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise), the world’s expert on experts, draws on thirty years of research to show that once a person reaches a level of “acceptable performance and automatically,” any additional years of experience don’t lead to improvement. Put another way, without focus and practice ten years of experience is often one year of experience merely repeated ten times.
The Doctor, Teacher, Consultant or Athlete will, over time, become a bit worse. Those abilities gradually atrophy in the absence of deliberate training to improve their technique and skills. On a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high), take a look in the mirror and ask yourself:
What is the “quality” of my performance?
Sadly, it’s the colleague who sees themself as an 8, and performs at a 4, that is blind to need for constant improvement. My former business partner, Mahan Khalsa, observed about these professionals, “Their skills don’t grow each year – however -- their level of comfort with their lack of skills grows.”
That’s why I’m all in. I want this journey that leads to mastery-- the commitment to perpetual improvement. Since I heard the clarion call of craftsmanship, I now ask a different question about my own performance.
The question isn’t, “Is my work good enough?”
The craftsmanship question is, “How can I be better today?”
Call to Craftsmanship: Consider your desire to perform at elite levels. Is this a journey that interests you? Follow my blog here.
-Craig Christensen www.kraftworx.com
It's Not About Steph Curry, It's About Me.
I have had the opportunity to work with hundreds of sales leaders and tens of thousands of their sales reps over the last seventeen years. Last year I started researching in earnest what sets elite performers apart from everyone else.
Why is it that a few excel, while most never come close to their potential? Why do most people hit a minimum level of performance, and then “hit cruise control” for the rest of their career?
What started as research became an obsession to answer these (and other) questions. I've tried to understand the science and simplicity that leads to craftsmanship. As a starting point, I offer this working definition:
“Craftsmanship” is the journey leading to mastery-- the calling and commitment to perpetual improvement. It encourages you to transform the capabilities that optimize potential, performance and contribution.
My learning has inspired me to personally apply these concepts. It’s easy to study in the abstract, harder to use yourself as the guinea pig. What is now clear to me is that mastery isn’t for the “gifted” few; it’s a discipline that can be replicated by anyone.
When looking for examples of craftsmanship, it’s easy to become enamored with celebrity talent, and observe the formidable gap between their performance and mine. Clearly, it’s unlikely that I could out-perform Steph Curry in the NBA or Thomas Edison in generating new patents. However, a closer look at craftsmanship reveals that there is much to be learned from their patterns of practice, focus and execution. As Dan Coyle observed, “Understanding how a few became great, anyone can become better.”
And I choose to become better.
Craftsmanship has improved my own habits and behaviors. It has enhanced what I see and expect in myself. Here are a few realizations:
- I can improve. Not by a little, by game-changing magnitudes. It started with the humility to be open to guidance from others. Then proceeds to discipline. No matter how good I am (or think I am), I can be much better.
- Let what “calls” you, guide you. A job was easy to get, harder to create a career, and invaluable to listen for my own calling to contribute in unique ways. I am learning to prioritize activities I am passionate about.
- It’s a journey, not a destination. This process is ongoing. Transformation in talent builds over time and has no limit. Day after day. Years into careers.
- The payoff of mastery is remarkable. The outcome is exponential success in your personal and professional life. You are more content and peaceful. More dedicated to serving those you love. Mastery is the gift that keeps giving.
Mastery is a living force innate to each of us, “craftsmanship” is the process of realizing it.
It has revealed an unexpected insight: I don’t work on craft, craft works on me. When you commit to craftsmanship, it begins to forge a new momentum and vision of what you can become.
Craftsmanship is a high octane journey with amazing vistas. Just ask Steph Curry. Who’s up for a road trip?
Call to Craftsmanship: Consider your desire to perform at elite levels. Is this a journey that interests you? If so, buckle up. Much more to come: “Road work ahead”
-Craig Christensen www.kraftworx.com